Facebook Follies

This post is not intended to piss off anyone - really. I'm just reaching out to see if I'm all alone here so please hear me out and refrain from jumping down my blogger throat.

I'm growing somewhat weary of Facebook. I cannot believe I'm even uttering such nonsense but good Lord I'm not sure I can stomach reading another rant full of F-bombs and complaints about other people and life in general. A recent post from a friend of mine really got me to thinking....has Facebook created a hamster wheel of sorts keeping people stuck in ruts of self loathe and a distaste for life and others?

Maybe an example is needed here. A woman posts a rant about how horribly she has been treated by men in the world of over 40 dating. She publicly slams her last date and men her age. Her Facebook friends read it and chime in with their thoughts stating how they too have experienced the same exact things. Some will go into details about how they were mistreated, hurt and abused. Others will express their anger and hatred toward men. All legitimate cries and the pain very real. There's a great chance we've all been there too and can certainly relate, but does the misery of the company help this woman to understand why she is experiencing what she is?

All pain and discomfort has the power to teach us a lesson if our heart is open and we're willing to peel back a layer and look within. Instead of finding blame in what's causing the discomfort, it's an invitation to heal a wound or wounds from our past. In the above example, if the woman is being mistreated time and again and if her experiences are replicas of past experiences, then there has to be a lesson there and some insight to gain. But if her FB buddies are enabling her to wallow in her anger and frustration and even adding fuel to the fire with their verbal man bashing, she will remain blinded and never be set free because her focus is on the wrong thing. Most likely, she will keep repeating the same steps, dating the same types of men, never evolving enough to attract the type of man who she desires and deserves.

What feels like support is really not support at all. It's more like tying the blind fold tighter and adding more concrete to her cinder-block shoes - while giving her post a thumbs up and a red heart. Do we respond as such because we're afraid to piss off our friend more and she'll hit the delete-thy-friend button? Are we also stuck on the Facebook hamster wheel unaware and disconnected from self, posting stuff that might be better written in a journal? It makes me wonder why we spend as much time as we do on social media and I'm left asking myself what kind of FB friend am I really and if I'm helping or hurting those I interact with on the site. All stuff to ponder.

And now let the rants begin. Feel free to tell me now you feel about this!